Sheep trade slump double whammy
Factory prices have come back by as much as 16 cents/kg - almost 6p/lb - in a week, with the factories which paid the higher prices last week inflicting the deepest cuts in their quotes.
In the marts, there was also an easier trade for larger supplies of lambs on offer at Monday's sales.
Prices recovered a few cents/kg at a few factories on Tuesday, mainly due to factories catching up with Monday's quotes and adjusting to get in line with the general trade. On Tuesday, base prices for the lambs ranged from 344 back to 338 cents/kg (123p-121p/lb), falling behind the previous week's prices by a few cents per kg at some factories, and by as much as 16 cents/kg at factories which paid the higher prices last week.
Although there was a large drop in numbers of lambs to markets in Britain last week - down some 13% - prices came back sharply during the early part of the week, with lambs selling at the equivalent of 343 cents/kg (excluding VAT), before staging a recovery towards the end of the week on the back of the sharp decline in supply, and eventually recording a slight improvement on the previous week's prices.
The trade was also quieter in France, where prices for the best of the Irish lamb ranged from 340 to 345 cents/kg.
Here in Ireland, in the marts, there were 900 head on offer at Fermoy on Monday. Butcher's lambs sold from €24 to €35 over €1/kg. with factory lambs making €20-€24 over. Kilkenny Mart had one of the largest sales this year, of almost 2,900 head on Monday. Butchers lambs were easier by €2/head, but there was good demand for store lambs at last week's prices. Butcher's lambs made €27 to €32 over; factory lambs €20-€24 over.
